Cole's Story

Diagnosis: Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum

By Rhonda

For us, My angel Cole’s story started when my alpha-fetal protein came back elevated. There are false positives all the time we were told but were still advised to
see a specialist. We scheduled our 18-week ultrasound with a specialist in Denver, Dr. Henry. We like surprises so we chose not to find out the sex until he/she was
born, no matter what.

It was during our ultrasound that our nightmare began. As the ultrasound technician was “trying to get a good picture of the brain” she said she needed to have
Dr. Henry come in to talk to us. The first words out of my husband’s mouth were “holy shit, this is bad.” I am a pharmacist and my husband is a physician and has
seen his share of ultrasounds. When Dr. Henry and the ultrasound technician returned they explained to us that our baby had a massive inter-hemispheric cyst
separating the 2 halves of his brain, encompassing the entire top and back portion of his skull cavity. He had Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum as a result of the cyst.
His hands were also in such a position to indicate severe neurological deficit.

Immediately the doctor was trying to discuss termination while performing the amniocentesis. In shock that our baby, the sibling-to-be for our then 19-month-old
daughter, had something wrong, fatally wrong with it. We told him we needed to do some research on what to do. He scheduled for me to get a fetal MRI to get a
better look at what the anomalies were and their severity, but in his 20 years of practicing he had never seen these anomalies at this magnitude and together at once.

In hysterics I called my good friend whom was working at Loma Linda University Medical Center as a pediatric neurosurgeon to see if she could give us any
guidance. She told us to wait for the fetal MRI results and that the ultrasounds aren’t always accurate. We began our own research to see what this baby’s chances
were. We still wanted to keep the baby’s sex a surprise, no mater what. What type of support would it need if it did survive, if we chose to carry it to term; if it would
even make it that far. These were all questions that no one had the answers to.

Ironically one of the first times I felt our baby move was during the fetal MRI. How could something be so wrong with our precious baby if it was moving? Any hopes
that the Denver fetal board and my friend in California would have good news after the results of the fetal MRI came back, were crushed. Not only did he have the cyst
but his eyes were wide set, his ears were mal-placed, he had an elevated palate, the cyst was connected to his ventricles causing ventriculomegaly (enlarged
ventricles), and his hands were in a bent formation indicating a neurological defect.

My friend in California consulted with a team of physicians that she worked with and her response was “I really wish I had good news – this is bad.” The Fetal
Board in Denver came to the same conclusions – on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the worst possible scenario) this was a 9. We were told if he were to survive he would
probably be blind, deaf, possible mute, not able to walk and would most likely suffer from seizures. We also later found out he also had an enlarged heart. Could they
really be talking about MY BABY?? We were so excited to love this baby and give our daughter a sibling.

After many, many tears shed and what-ifs played out in our head we made the heartbreaking choice to end the pregnancy. We were both raised catholic; this was
NEVER a decision we EVER though we would need to make.

After speaking to a doctor who said he would be able to do an induction, we made arrangements for our daughter to be taken care of during what was the worst 24
hours of our lives. Cole was kicking like crazy on the way to the hospital. Was this a sign from him that we were making the wrong decision? That was our biggest fear,
that I would deliver a completely healthy, normal looking baby. Yes, I chose to deliver my baby. We wanted to see and hold my precious son, spend as much time with
him as we were allowed.

I received an epidural after the back labor began after getting pumped full of Cytotec (pregnancy category X – an abortifactant). On August 2, 2006 at 946 am the
doctor announced – “it’s a BOY”. A moment of joy turned immediately to pain. All I could keep saying was “I’m sorry.” My wonderful nurse said I shouldn’t be sorry and
that he will only know our love.

I quickly held him close along with my husband’s hand continuously telling him how much we love him. Cole then reached both arms up to the sky. Shortly after
that was his last breath. He lived for 9 minutes; weighing 1 pound exactly and measuring 10 inches long. His globoid shaped head, enlarged by his cyst may have
been scary looking to some but he was our baby—beautiful. And I miss him.